Norwell boys basketball marches on

Thursday

The second-seeded Clippers won easily at home in their first game of the Division 3 South Sectional tournament.

Perfect season? Rest in peace. Pursuit of a state championship? Alive and well.

And isn’t that what really matters?

Like a certain football team around here, the Norwell High School boys basketball team won its first 18 games and then suffered a rude awakening. Luckily for the Clippers, their stumble came not in a game with roman numerals and a few billion people watching but in the relative anonymity of the regular season-ending IAABO Hall of Fame Classic at Massasoit Community College in Brockton. Losing to Oliver Ames over Presidents Day weekend was a minor annoyance, not a catastrophe and maybe even a blessing in disguise.

Norwell bounced back to down Archbishop Williams in the consolation game and last night stretched its more-modest winning streak to two games, pulling away late to beat 15th-seeded Bellingham, 64-41, in the first round of the Division 3 South Sectional tournament.

“No one likes to lose, so obviously we cared,” senior center James Long said of the lone, late smudge on the Clippers’ record. “But seeding-wise it didn’t do too much to us; we still got two home games (in sectionals). I don’t want to say it was good, but I think it might have helped us a little bit. It re-motivated us, got us going for the tournament.”

With senior guard Tom Finkenstadt scoring 15 points and Long adding 13, Norwell had more than enough to turn back the upset bid by Bellingham (12-10). Senior guard Ben Cavicchi had 17 points for the Blackhawks, who trailed 29-22 at the half and were within two (31-29) midway through the third quarter before Norwell finished strong.

Guard Andrew Lawson, one of nine seniors on Norwell’s 15-man squad, provided the exclamation point for the Clippers, rattling in a foul-line jumper at the buzzer for the final points. Lawson, who checked into the game with 6.3 seconds left, has Down syndrome, and his basket sent the Norwell fans into a frenzy.

“It’s a great story,” said coach John Willis, who credited Bellingham’s players for graciously stepping back and giving Lawson room to shoot.

“I wasn’t sure if he was going to get it to fall, but he got the shooter’s roll. It fell for him,” Long said with a big smile, while nearby Lawson trumpeted his achievement in the locker room. “I’ve been with Andrew since we were in kindergarten class. We saw him play some JV last year, so he’s making his dream (come true).

“You can see how excited he is. He’ll talk about that basket for the next week, until he scores the next one or whatever and then we’ll have to listen to him talk about that one. He’s great because it makes his day. It cheers everybody up. He’s fun to be around.”

Norwell will be hoping for the same feel-good ending on Friday when it hosts Abington. The Clippers won both regular-season meetings, 68-43 and 66-48. Long had 23 and 21 points, respectively.

“Obviously, it’s hard to beat a team three times,” Finkenstadt said. “We know them well; they know us well. It’s really going to be about who comes out and executes. They’re probably going to double-team James – he’ll get a lot of attention – so everyone else has to step up and play their game.”

That’s been the story of Norwell’s almost-perfect season. In the first Abington win, Finkenstadt (12 points) and senior guard Matt Breen (15) supplemented Long’s offense. In the second meeting Finkenstadt had 10 points and junior guard Mike Genatossio chipped in 15. Last night, after Bellingham had cut the lead to 31-29, Norwell ended the third quarter on a decisive 13-2 run in which five different players scored.

“That is what we’re all about,” Long said. “That’s kind of been the name of the game this season. We don’t have anybody who’s going to score 30, but if four guys score 12 that’s even better. That’s what we’ve been doing all season.”

Long was averaging just under 17 points per game before last night with four other players averaging between 9 and 13. Seniors Cam Evans and Brandon Wooten each scored nine against Bellingham, Genatossio added six, and Breen and senior Tom Quinn each chipped in five.

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